The Most Fattening Foods on Earth

What is it about fattening foods that lures us in like moths to a flame? Fat is flavor, after all, so the more fat a food has the tastier it will be. Add in copious amounts of salt or sugar, and you've got a prescription for addictive tastiness. From ice cream to chicken fried steak, we've rounded up the 13 most fattening foods on the planet.

There's no question what the single most fattening food on the planet is: that would, obviously, be pure fat, which comes in a few forms. There's animal fat (lardo, or cured pork fat, is probably the food product that contains the most of it); there's dairy fat, which is butter in its most concentrated form; and there are nut and vegetable fats, which are pure oil (like olive, peanut, or soybean oil) in their most concentrated forms. So whichever foods contain the most of these fats are, quite obviously, the most fattening foods around.

If there's one way to demonstrate the genius of man, it's through his ability to cram as much fat as possible into food. Steak is fatty on its own, but why not batter and deep-fry it? Then, just for kicks, let's top it with cream gravy! Seriously, It's a little ridiculous. A burger patty can contain upwards of 20 percent fat, so let's fry a half-pound patty on a griddle and top it with cheese and bacon! Why? Because it's freakin' delicious, that's why.

So while it's pretty obvious that the foods on our list are full of fat, what might surprise you is exactly how much fat these foods actually contain. For example, if an 8-ounce (224 gram) beef patty contains 20 percent fat, that means that 20 percent of those 224 grams are pure fat -- about 45 grams. And that's before the cheese.

So while there are good fats and there are bad fats, most of the fats we consume are undeniably bad. And these foods contain more of it than just about any other food on earth.

Super-Premium Ice Cream

Super-premium ice creams, like those sold by Ben & Jerry’s, for example, are the most fattening ones around because they contain so little air and contain a high level of butterfat. For example, half a cup (or 106 grams) of their Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream contains 16 grams of fat, meaning that 15 percent of their ice cream is pure butterfat. And that right there is why it’s so creamy and delicious.
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Cheeseburgers

As mentioned earlier, a half-pound patty of 80/20 beef contains 45 grams of fat. Add on a few slices of cheese and a couple strips of bacon and you’re reaching astronomical levels of fat. Let’s look at the popular chain Cheeburger Cheeburger, for example. They use a higher ratio of fat in their burgers, closer to 25 percent, and a popular seller is the 10-ounce patty, dubbed ‘The Serious.’ Add American cheese and bacon, and you’re pushing 66 grams of fat, 26 of which are saturated (not to mention 1,090 calories and 259 milligrams of cholesterol). Should you decide to go for their infamous pounder, the patty alone contains 69 grams of fat! Sounds about as serious as a heart attack.
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Sausage

If you’ve ever seen sausage being made, it usually starts with not only a pork shoulder, one of the fattiest cuts on the pig, but also a hefty portion of fatback, or pure fat. One link of Johnsonville bratwurst, for example, weighs 82 grams, and contains 21 grams of fat. That means that this sausage, which is pretty representative of sausage as a whole, is pushing 26 percent fat, more fat than most burgers. One 45-gram classic Oscar Mayer weiner, in comparison, contains 9 grams of fat, clocking in at about 20 percent.
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Foie Gras

Foie gras is the liver of a duck or goose that’s been purposely fattened up, and it’s rich, creamy , unctuous, and insanely decadent. It’s also insanely high in fat: a 100 gram, 3.5-ounce portion contains 44 grams of fat, meaning that it’s a full 44 percent fat.
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Nuts

Ounce for ounce, nuts are the most fat-dense foods on earth, but thankfully the fat in them is very high in monounsaturated fat, which actually promotes overall health. A one-cup serving of almonds, for example, weighs 92 grams and contains 45 grams of fat, meaning it contains nearly 49 percent fat. Good thing it’s a healthy fat!
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